Good practice for Newbies and Home Users

[Numb-nuts 1]

Hi Guys and Gals, (mustn't forget the gals)

 

I have seen some very sloppy installations of home user, even some professionals CCTV Camera installations.

Here are some tips for a successful CCTV installation in a home environment.

 

Decide where you want ti site your cameras and DVR.

Consider how you will run the cable from each and if you have the means to power all your cameras.

If you have only a single socket near the DVR, you may wish to install a six point socket (extension).

You can install a single power source on the wall behind your DVR so all your cables are run to the

same place but if you have PSUs supplied with your cameras you may wish to use those.

 

When you site your cameras, they should be high enough off the ground so that they are at least

10ft above the highest point an intruder could stand on. So if the is a fence adjacent

to the wall, at least 10 ft above the fence. Consider how you will route the cable(s) to the DVR.

It is best if you can manage to hide as much of the cables as possible. Plan a route that will have as

few turns and bends in the cable as you can manage, this will ultimately reduce the risk of a failed cable.

 

Turns in copper cables cannot be made at 90 deg. The rule of thumb here is a turn diameter of 10 times the cable thickness

so for a 6 mm cable the turn radius should be just over 2 1/2 inches.

If you want to do a really pro job, you can run cables in plastic conduit to protect then but for home users this

isn't really necessary unless you live in a particularly harsh climate or rough neighborhood,

 

Before climbing ladders to place the cameras, I always make a 1/4" plywood template ot the wall facing part of the bracket

and I drill the holes too. Now I can climb the ladder with just the template, a marker pen and a small spirit level.

If you are fixing to brickwork, mark the uppermost holes for the bracket along the centerline of the brick as this will give the best

hold. Mark a horizontal line along the centerline of the brick and place your template to align the uppermost holes on that line.

Next you can drill your holes and plug them with the strongest plugs you have. Make sure the holes are deep enough for your screws.

Next take the camera up and start with uppermost screws first. After completion, you can mark up for a junction box. I always drill the mortar joint as its easier and only holding a plastic or metal box. I always measure three fingers from the bracket to the edge of the box.

Only God knows what I would do if I cut my three fingers off oone day? I'd be lost

 

If using a varifocal camera while you are up there, take a tape measure and measure to the point on the ground where you want to focus.

Now set up a target to focus on the ground and set the focus while on the ground. This should work for you but may soetimes need a bit of tweaking. It's cheaoer than investing a couple of hundred on a test monitor you will only use once (with any luck)

 

I have not fixed to a wooden frame house so I am not sure of good practice there but perhaps one of or American friends can give some valuable info here.

A word of caution when fixing the cable to the wall. If you are using masonry nails or nailed clips to secure the cable, be very sure you don't hammer the cable. This is often a fatal error. I prefer to drill smal plugs and use no 6 screws and an electric screwdriver to fix the clips.

Takes more time but it's time well invested.

 

When fixing to metal buildings, I always run a separate earth cable ( black automotive cable) and secure it to my distibution box to reduce the risk of ground loops. This has to do with the differing potential to earth ina circuit id I remember, but who cares at the moment right?

 

I have always said that one day I would get some of that anti spider spray to reduce the spiders webbs apearing on my screen, I naever have yet but it's something worth considering.

 

 

Finally, have a nice cup of tea or coffee and admire your work.

 

A typical IP65 rated box ( Please note IP rating has nothing to do with IP Cameras)

 

PS This brand of box is my favourite and in the UK I get them from Toolstaion who have a huge range of these and at a trade price.

[DailianInCCTV 0]

I hate to post to such an old thread, but am hoping you can help me!

 

I have begun working on a UTP camera system for a client, and their system is wired using power supplies that are plugged in and then wired with UTP wiring that goes throughout the area into several cameras, the cameras are all 12VDC systems, they are BNC cameras that are spliced onto the UTP line using passive Video Baluns, however I believe some of the units are experiencing Ground Loops.

The Power Supplies all appear to be standard 2-prong plugs, the circuitry inside appears to have a single ground wire running from the AC to DC transformer to a ground, but how can I tell if the individual cameras are grounded? if they are not grounded properly, how can I properly ground them?

The symptoms of this system are many, some of the cameras are not displaying color fully (some appear almost fully black and white, but the cameras are in fact color), most of the displays are plagued by ghostly looking faint black translucent bars that are vertical in orientation and scroll from the right to the left of the screen. Others appear to also have what appears to be waves rolling up and down them (like how they demonstrated wavelengths in high school). then there are a few that simply do not produce anything but a black screen with random squiggles of video intermittently. the DVR recognizes that the cameras are sending a signal (they don't report as video loss, and they report whether they are in Motion detection mode or recording mode.) but there is no way to see what is being displayed. Are these symptoms of a Ground Loop?

Also apparently the last technician who knew absolutely nothing about technology at all repaired a camera, it functioned for a day and then began showing the same massive video failure symptom as before. Is it possible for Ground Loops to take down cameras eventually? (as in it doesn't have to happen immediately?) the system has been in place for nearly 8 years, it hasn't been maintained properly in 6 years, (I have CCTV installation experience, but when I did the installs, I always did them correctly to begin with, this was done haphazardly - nothing labeled, CAT5 cables bent at 180 degree turns and zip tied, UTP wiring flushed out of the casing and 6-18" in some locations have been untwisted!) it is a nightmare CCTV installation and they just want me to magically fix it. On top of this, it's a 5 story Hotel with well over 100 cameras in place, so simply mapping out the camera locations is a nightmare! (a past employee actually reset the DVR's in the hopes of getting away with theft, and all they accomplished was to get caught, and delete the names of all the cameras on the dedicated DVR's - so now the locations are all uncomfirmed and many of them are improperly labeled on a Grid I was given and told to "fix".

I'm not a veteran of this stuff, and I'm so glad this website exists because there seems to be some incredibly knowledgable men and women here who may help me continue to put food on the table for my children and keep this job which I'm really thinking I can learn something from and thus I am enjoying it, despite the occasional pull my hair out frustration when I troubleshoot something to the best of my ability, implement changes and fixes, and it doesn't do anything but nominally improve a non-working signal.

I'm not worried about getting fired, as there is no way this hotel can afford someone with even my limited experience and my college education to come and do this with the pay rate they're offering, but I know that if I cannot figure it out, I won't continue to waste the companys money on paying me, I would feel as if I'm taking advantage and I don't want to feel that way!

I am going to inform them to purchase a Test Monitor to use on the network, however, I am wondering if there is any test monitors that allow the direct connecting of the UTP wires from the Ethernet Cable? or if I'd have to splice them to a video Balun to connect to the monitor to test the signal strength at the different splicing locations and find out where my data signal is being degraded?